Johnny Cash - Bootleg, Vol. 2: From Memphis to Hollywood CD

Bootleg, Vol. 2: From Memphis to Hollywood CD music Around the time of his 71st birthday, rock-&-roll legend Jerry Lee Lewis unveiled LAST MAN STANDING, a celebratory outing that features a stunning cast of guest musicians, ranging from B.B. King and Little Richard to Merle Haggard and Neil Young. Among the many highlights of this album are Lewis's lively collaboration with guitarist Jimmy Page on Led Zeppelin's "Rock N' Roll," a rendition that wonderfully plays up the tune's 1950s leanings, and the Killer's honky-tonk spin on Hank Williams's "Lost Highway," which points to his often-overlooked country recordings and features Delaney Bramlett's searing six-string work. Like the latter-day recordings of his old Sun labelmate Johnny Cash, this Lewis collection points to a remarkable legacy, while also displaying his still-formidable talents, resulting in a musical testament to aging impressively well. Personnel: Jerry Lee Lewis (vocals, piano); Keith Richards, B.B. King, Willie Nelson, Buddy Guy (vocals, guitar); Delaney Bramlett, Don Henley, George Jones, John Fogerty, Kid Rock, Little Richard, Merle Haggard, Mick Jagger, Neil Young, Ringo Starr, Rod Stewart, Toby Keith, Bruce Springsteen (vocals); Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jimmy Rip, Kenny Lovelace, Robbie Robertson (guitar); Ron Wood (pedal steel guitar); Ivan Neville (organ); Butch Hutchinson (bass guitar); Jim Keltner (drums).

Bootleg, Vol. 2: From Memphis to Hollywood songs Johnny Cash's final album, AMERICAN V: A HUNDRED HIGHWAYS, is a moving and fitting swan song for the legendary performer. Like Cash's other recordings with producer Rick Rubin, AMERICAN V is quiet, intense, and minimal; it creates a thrilling intimacy by keeping the focus on Cash's aging voice and increasingly soulful, nuanced phrasing. The album was produced piecemeal, with Cash's vocal tracks recorded mere months before the artist's death in 2003, and the backing tracks added two years later. Yet the album coheres remarkably well, thanks in large part to the fine musicians on hand (including ace session guitarist Smokey Hormel). But this is Cash's show through and through. Whether on covers (Gordon Lightfoot's "If You Could Read My Mind"), originals ("Like the 309," the last song Cash ever wrote), or spirituals ("I'm Free From the Chain Gang Now," the album's stirring, heartbreakingly appropriate closer), Cash sounds like no one but himself--weary, wise, and touched, perhaps, by an unseen hand The album is a continuation of the highly popular and critically acclaimed series of American recordings produced by Rick Rubin. The series began with 1994's acclaimedAmerican Recordings, followed by Unchained (1996), American III: Solitary Man (2000) and American IV: The Man Comes Around (2002). AMERICAN V contains 12 tracks and includes one Johnny original, 'Like The 309' (the last song that Johnny wrote and recorded before he died). Personnel: Jonny Polonsky, Matt Sweeney, Mike Campbell , Pat McLaughlin, Randy Scruggs, Smokey Hormel (guitar); Benmont Tench (piano, harpsichord, organ). Additional personnel: Mark Howard, Marty Stuart, Pete Wade.

Bootleg, Vol. 2: From Memphis to Hollywood buy CD music Released for the occasion of Johnny Cash's 78th birthday, American VI: Ain't No Grave is the final installment in the collaboration between Cash and Rick Rubin that began with 1994's American Recordings. These ten songs were cut during the same sessions for American V: A Hundred Highways. Guitarists Mike Campbell, Matt Sweeney, Smokey Hormel, and Benmont Tench on keyboards were present, as were other musicians. June Carter Cash died during routine surgery during these sessions. Cash, though grief stricken and with full knowledge that he too was dying due to complications from Parkinson's disease, worked as often as his health would allow. He died three months after these songs were recorded. Ain't No Grave is an elegiac and deeply spiritual album, a formal goodbye without regret from a man and an artist of almost mythic stature. The song selection is rooted in the Americana, folk, country, and gospel traditions. There is an excellent reading of Tom Paxton's "Wonder Where I'm Bound" that doesn't feel as lost as the original, but more a statement after reflecting on a life fully lived. Likewise his version of Sheryl Crow's "Redemption Day" sums up Cash's own long commitment to social justice, and the need for individual accountability; its statement of hope is underscored here not as a dream, but as a conviction. Kris Kristofferson's "For the Good Times" begins with the words: "Don't look so sad, I know it's over/But life goes on/And this ole world will keep on turning." It offers a portrait of the dignity and grace Cash performed with all his life. "I Corinthian's 15:55" is his last self-penned song, a sweet, country-gospel melody that echoes far beyond the margins of contemporary music to an earlier time, and looks at the future with unshakable faith. The title track is a country-gospel-blues by Brother Claude Ely -- it's a fierce showdown with the Reaper, with the singer winning it hands down. There are excellent covers of Bob Nolan's "Cool Water," a song Cash often sang live that expresses empathy for the downtrodden, and "Satisfied Mind," written by Jack Rhodes and Red Hayes, played on a lone acoustic guitar, which dispenses the truth of earthly life into two-minutes-and-forty-eight seconds. Ed McCurdy's "Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream" is a true anti-war song that serves as a testimonial. The album's final cut is Queen Liliuokalani's traditional Hawaiian ballad "Aloha Oe," one of the sweetest, most affectionate leaving songs ever written. And Cash's version? It's devastatingly beautiful; to the point of tears. If there were any justice, Ain't No Grave would be the last album released under Cash's name. It is not only a compelling contribution to his legacy, but an offering that closes the historic American Recordings series with the same stamp of quality that began it. ~ Thom Jurek Photographer: Martyn Atkins. Personnel: Jonny Polosky, Jonny Polonsky, Matt Sweeney, Mike Campbell , Smokey Hormel (guitar); Benmont Tench (piano, harpsichord, organ); Mike Leach, Jack Clement, Josh Graves, June Carter Cash, Larry Gatlin, Larry Perkins, Mac Wiseman, Mark Howard, Marty Stuart, Pat McLaughlin, Pete Wade, Randy Scruggs, Reggie Young , Mickey Raphael, Dennis Crouch, Dave Roe, Laura Cash . Audio Mixers: David Ferguson ; Greg Fidelman.

Bootleg, Vol. 2: From Memphis to Hollywood album for sale Sony/Legacy continues its compelling and welcome The Johnny Cash Bootleg Series with this fourth volume, The Soul of Truth, which collects sides (some previously unreleased) Cash recorded in the 1970s and '80s in a faith and gospel vein. Recording information: Hendersonville (01/15/1979-01/17/1979); Nashville (01/15/1979-01/17/1979); Hendersonville (01/24/1979-01/26/1979); Nashville (01/24/1979-01/26/1979); Hendersonville (01/29/1979); Nashville (01/29/1979); Hendersonville (01/31/1979); Nashville (01/31/1979); Hendersonville (05/05/1982); Nashville (05/05/1982); Hendersonville (05/06/1982); Nashville (05/06/1982); Hendersonville (05/17/1979); Nashville (05/17/1979); Hendersonville (08/31/1982); Nashville (08/31/1982); Hendersonville (09/01/1982); Nashville (09/01/1982); Hendersonville (09/23/1982); Nashville (09/23/1982); Hendersonville (10/07/1975); Nashville (10/07/1975); Hendersonville (10/1982); Nashville (10/1982); Hendersonville (10/21/1975); Nashville (10/21/1975); Hendersonville (12/18/1975); Nashville (12/18/1975); Hendersonville (12/29/1982); Nashville (12/29/1982). Photographers: Don Hunstein; Jim Marshall ; Les Leverett; Alexander Agor; Seņor McGuire; Alec Soth. Personnel: Jack Clement, Jack Routh, Jerry Hensley (guitar); Bob Wootton (electric guitar); Carl Gorodetsky, Sheldon Kurland, George Brinkley, Steven Smith, Karl Polin (violin); Marvin Chantry, Gary VanOsdale (viola); Roy Christensen (cello); William Puett (flute, oboe, saxophone); Jo-El Sonnier (harmonica, concertina); Conrad Noddin, Dennis Goode, Wayne Jackson, Jack Hale, Bob Lewin (trumpet); Chuck Cochran, Earl Poole Ball (piano); W.S. Holland (drums); Mark Morris (percussion); The 21st Century Singers, The McCormick Brothers, Frederic Schulman, Lorrie Davis, The Carter Family (background vocals). Liner Note Author: John Carter Cash.

Bootleg, Vol. 2: From Memphis to Hollywood buy CD music You've got to be a Johnny Cash fan to truly appreciate what's happening on the third volume in Legacy's Bootleg series Live Around the World. This double-disc collection contains 53 tracks culled from 23 years, 1956 to 1979. The heart of its performances are from the Newport Folk Festival in 1964; a show for the troops in Long Binh, Vietnam in 1969; for Richard Nixon at the White House in 1970, and at the Osteraker Prison in Sweden in 1972. The sound varies in quality but the selection is stellar. The disc starts with songs from his earliest days at the Big "D" Jamboree in Dallas (with the Perkins Brothers), with Cash playing early versions of "I Walk the Line" and "Get Rhythm." The nervousness in the former tune is notable: Cash hums between verses to make sure he's on pitch. Three years later, he was imbuing his song choices with authority, even as he presented himself with humility to his audience. His version of "Cotton Fields" sounds like the taste of bitter memory more than of longing nostalgia. From the Newport gig (introduced by Pete Seeger), Cash is without drums but has plenty of electric guitar. The version of "Folsom Prison Blues" is one of the best on record. Cash introduces "Don't Think Twice It's Alright" with a hearty endorsement of Bob Dylan. The Vietnam show is all audience requests, performed when Cash had pneumonia. There are killer renditions of "Cocaine Blues," and "Jackson" in duet with with June Carter Cash. Disc two begins with a long, patronizing introduction by Nixon. Cash rises to the occasion without condescending to the audience by playing his then-current hit ("A Boy Named Sue"), his own "Five Feet High and Risin'," and Leon Payne's "Lumberjack" before launching into a set of country-gospel tunes backed by his band, the Carter Family, and the Statler Brothers. The prison gig in Sweden has him delivering a knock-out, uptempo take of Kris Kristofferson's "Sunday Morning Comin' Down" and a devastating read of the traditional "The Prisoner's Song," with a moving spoken intro. Playing Steve Goodman's "City of New Orleans" for a Columbia Records' convention, and the closing, honky tonk, piano-driven read of Billy Joe Shaver's "I'm Just an Old Chunk of Coal," from the Nashville Inn in 1979, underscore who and what Cash is: a free and egalitarian citizen and keeper of American song's flame. From folk to country, from past to present, his complex persona exemplifies his rare ability to stand and deliver to every audience, not only in the way they wanted him to but also, perhaps, in the way the needed him to. Bootleg, Vol. 3 showcases what we already know (intellectually, at least) about Cash in a very emotional and visceral way. ~ Thom Jurek Liner Note Author: Dave Marsh . Editors: Robert Johnson Lee ; Joe Lee . Photographers: Don Hunstein; Sandy Speiser; John Hamilton; JT Phillips; Leon Kagarise. Personnel: Robert Johnson Lee , Joe Lee (programming). Audio Mixers: Robert Johnson Lee ; Joe Lee .

Bootleg, Vol. 2: From Memphis to Hollywood songs This double-disc collection of unreleased material from Legacy is a rare thing. These tapes are not dead-dog files from Columbia's vaults. Instead, they contain songs Johnny Cash cut at his home studio in Hendersonville, Tennessee between July of 1973 and December of 1983. While closing down the House of Cash studio, museum, and store, John Carter Cash invited Steve Berkowitz and some colleagues to sort through the material and tapes housed in Cash's personal vault. They found some tidy white tape boxes marked "Personal File"; these are those tapes. Some of the songs here are traditional and spiritual songs Cash sang as a boy or heard from his companions. He tells stories to introduce many of the tunes, and these recollections become as important as the songs themselves. When he introduces "Far Away Places," he tells a story about one of his first talent contests (he got only two votes) and reveals that his selection of material cost him first place. You can hear the memories, painful and hopeful, float back through his delivery, spoken and sung. His reading of "Saginaw, Michigan" contains no peremptory tale, but the song says it all, and Cash brings the tune's tragic narrative to life in the listener's present. Likewise, three other Northern-themed numbers -- "When It's Springtime in Alaska," "Girl from Saskatoon" (co-written with Johnny Horton), and a devastating read of Robert Service's poem "Cremation of Sam McGee" -- add to this narrative. "It's All Over" is an original that comes from Cash's early days but was never recorded properly. There are also covers of tunes by the Louvin Brothers, John Prine, Doug Kershaw, Rodney Crowell, and Carlene Carter. Disc two is primarily made up of devotional songs; they range from well-known hymns -- "Lily of the Valley," "Farther Along," and "The Way Worn Traveler" -- to provocative tunes of unknown origin -- "If Jesus Ever Loved a Woman" (It Was Mary Magdalene)." There are gorgeous original songs such as "No Earthly Good," "What Is Man?," and the track Greil Marcus bases his new liner notes on, "A Half a Mile a Day." Marcus does his usual riff, appropriating French critical theory to (mis)interpret the American experience with claims that "the songs sing the singer," and Cash "disappears into the songs"; but he's wrong. Both the original and historical songs become the stuff of myth and pathos (instead of quaint, dusted-off reflections from musical history) as we eavesdrop on Cash's voice; he delivers them from the ashes with his authority as an artist because he couldn't help but do that. Cash recorded the cover tunes, folk songs, and hymns because they meant something to him; he cut the songs he wrote in order to simply not forget them. Bootleg, Vol. 1: Personal File is a slice of musical autobiography cut in a setting of solitude for the sake of documenting it audio-journal style. For Cash fans, this is simply essential listening. ~ Thom Jurek Recording information: 01/11/1977; 01/28/1974; 02/03/1982; 02/18/1976; 03/14/1980; 04/30/1980; 05/13/1974; 06/18/1974; 07/11/1973; 07/16/1973; 07/18/0193; 07/18/1973; 07/19/1973; 07/20/1973; 10/01/1973; 10/04/1974; 12/08/1976; 12/1982. Photographers: Jim Marshall ; JT Phillips. Personnel: Johnny Cash (vocals, guitar). Liner Note Author: Greil Marcus.